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Alberta’s humble saskatoon berry gets the gourmet treatment

Courtesy, Tina Faiz, Handout
You can pair any berry with any meat, says Culina co-owner and chef Brad Lazarenko. Here, he uses saskatoon berry butter as the sauce for wild Athabasca fish with fresh corn.

Photograph by: Courtesy
, Tina Faiz

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WAYS TO ENJOY SASKATOON BERRIES? USE THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS

I’m embarrassed to say I had lived in Alberta for more than 20 years and never tasted that humble prairie staple, the saskatoon berry. The city of Saskatoon is named after it, indigenous people have used it as food and medicine for centuries, yet it has eluded me all these years. I decided to rectify the situation by going directly to the source, the Yakimetz saskatoon berry farm, to see how the berries grow — and taste.

Located 110 kilometres east of Edmonton, the 15-acre farm is picturesque: an antique windmill, charming wood benches, well-manicured grounds and 40 perfectly straight rows of berry shrubs planted with military precision, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Darlene and Steve Yakimetz first planted their saskatoon seedlings in 1999. As we tour the orchard, 13 years of their hard work literally stands before them — those tiny sprouts have suckered into thick, eight-feet-tall hedges.

The Yakimetz family grows four varieties: Smoky, Thiessen, Honeywood and Northline. We pluck handfuls, tasting the subtle differences of each. Fingers sticky and juice dripping down our chins, we see why the Smoky, first domesticated at the Beaverlodge Research Station near Grande Prairie in 1952, are the most popular: sweet, tangy and meaty.

Every year, the family grows 25,000 pounds of these juicy morsels, which are native to Canada’s north, the prairies, British Columbia and parts of the United States. The plants are hardy and can withstand temperatures up to -60 C because “the fruit ripens early and it knows how to close down really quick and become dormant,” says Bob Bors, assistant professor of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.

These purple-skinned, gold-fleshed pomes love the alkaline prairie soil. Historically, Saskatoon berries were an important plant for Plains Indians and early pioneers. The flowers, leaves, bark and roots were used medicinally, in traditional ceremonies, and steeped as tea. The fruit was eaten fresh, or used in pemmican — an indigenous winter staple, made of a mixture of dried meat, dried berries and melted fat moulded into cakes.

“They have the sweetness of blueberries, the sourness of black currants and the dryness of chokecherries,” says Brad Lazarenko, executive chef and co-owner of Edmonton’s Culina restaurant. Lazarenko has just put Yakimetz berries on his menu.

“I treat saskatoons like any other berry, and any berry or fruit complements meat because you get the balance of sweet and savoury,” he says. “The berries are naturally sweet and sour, so they also serve as a good base for additional flavours ... We make compotes, chutneys and sauces to extract the flavour of the fruit.”

He takes it further by sweetening saskatoons with honey, making them more sour to add balance, or seasoning them with vanilla, star anise, fennel or herbs.

Nutritionally, saskatoons are on par with other berries as a good source of antioxidants, including vitamin C and carotene, iron, manganese and calcium.

Last year, the Yakimetz family sold 90 per cent of their crop to the Summerland Sweets syrup company, and the rest to U-pickers at the end of July, during the short, two-week harvest window. This year, they want to reach chefs like Lazarenko with a passion for sourcing local foods, to bring the berries — and awareness — directly to our plates.

The Yakimetz sons now run the farm, which originally belonged to Darlene’s Ukrainian parents. Brett, 37, and Adam, 33, bought the farm from their retiring parents two years ago.

“Baba and Gido would be so proud to see these trees now,” says Darlene.

“And we are so proud to own it, to have a connection to the land our parents and grandparents worked. It’s part of our heritage,” Brett adds.

In fact, Adam and his wife, Amy, now live on the farm in Adam’s childhood home. As third-generation farmers, they are bucking the trend of young people moving to the city, in exchange for a simpler life.

“We don’t want to see this lifestyle die. And it’s really exciting. We have an opportunity many don’t get — to plant and see what grows, to be more self sustaining, and be closer to where our food comes from,” says Amy.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WAYS TO ENJOY SASKATOON BERRIES? USE THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS

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Sauteed Trout with Saskatoon Berry Butter and Fresh Corn

Culina restaurant serves this saskatoon berry butter with corn bread. Here, co-owner and executive chef Brad Lazarenko uses it as the base of a rich sauce for fresh fish. The secret: coat the fish in sugar and corn starch, and use high heat. It’s a Chinese cooking method, he says, that will give you a perfectly seared crust and a moist, tender fillet — as long as you don’t overcook the fish, so watch it closely.

4 trout fillets

½ lb (1 cup/250 mL) butter, room temperature

¼ cup (50 mL) fresh mashed saskatoon berries

1 cup (250 mL) corn, kernels cut fresh off the cob

¼ cup (50 mL) white wine

4 tbsp (50 mL) canola oil

salt and pepper

Whip softened butter and fresh berries in a bowl until well blended; set aside.

Cut corn kernels off the cob into a bowl and season with salt; set aside.

In a bowl, combine 2 tbsp (25 mL) canola oil, 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar and 1 tsp (5 mL) corn starch. Add the trout, coating each fillet. Heat a large saute pan on high heat with 2 tbsp (25 mL) canola oil. Add trout fillets, season with salt and pepper, and saute for 2 minutes. Flip over fillets, and add the wine to deglaze the pan. Add corn and saskatoon berry butter so it melts into a sauce.

Spoon corn onto a plate, top it with trout and finish with remaining butter sauce. Garnish with sauteed green beans, kale or spinach, and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Saskatoon Berry Lemonade

“We served this lemonade at Culina’s booth at the Edmonton Folk Festival, and it was a huge hit,” says Lazarenko.

4 lemons

1 cup (250 mL) saskatoon berries

2 tbsp (25 mL) sugar

water

mint, for garnish

In a sturdy heavy bowl, thoroughly mash the fresh Saskatoon berries with sugar. Divide mixture into four tall Collins glasses. Squeeze juice of one lemon into each glass. Fill with ice and top with water. Stir, garnish with mint and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Cook’s Note: Add a splash of red wine and a few fresh or thawed berries for an impromptu sangria.

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